Galatians

Redeemed from Sin

August 7, 2025 by Tim Sherfy

There is nothing in this world we need or should even desire that has any connection with sin. Sin is a great offense to God, and if we love Him, we will do nothing against Him on purpose. Why would we, being redeemed from sin, desire to continue to dabble in it (Romans 6:1-2)? In his first epistle, John remarks that if we love God, we will not indulge in habitual sin (1 John 3:9; 1 John 5:18).

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When God transforms your heart, you no longer desire your old life (2 Corinthians 5:17). We are a new creation with new dreams and desires. Those dreams and desires will align with the will of our King and Savior (Romans 12:2; Philippians 2:13). True repentance leads to real transformation, and real transformation cannot result in a heart that continues to burn for sin.

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Faithfulness

August 4, 2025 by Tim Sherfy

One of my favorite parables is that of the vineyard workers (Matthew 20:1-16), as it provides a great lesson on faithfulness. In it, Jesus tells how a landowner goes to the marketplace early in the morning and hires several workers, agreeing to pay them a denarius for the day’s work. The landowner goes back to the marketplace three times throughout the day, and a last time at 5:00pm to hire additional workers.

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His only promise of wages to any of those was he would pay them “whatever is right.” At 6:00 he instructs his agent to call the workers in and pay them, beginning with the last hired and moving backwards to the first. Those hired last received a denarius, so when those hired first came to collect their wages, they were thinking they would get more. However, they also received a denarius.

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God’s Call to Holiness

July 24, 2025 by Tim Sherfy

God’s call to holiness is not optional for any believer. Holiness is the standard God set for us in the beginning and continues to expect from us (Leviticus 19:2; 1 Peter 1:15–16). When we love the Father, we will desire to do what pleases Him because we all want to be counted like Paul when we die (2 Timothy 4:7).

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We all want to run the race well and hear Jesus speak the words, “Well done, my good and faithful servant; enter into my rest” (Matthew 25:21). We dare not approach Heaven with stained garments uncleansed by the sacrificial blood of Christ (Hebrews 10:10). Sanctification always follows true repentance, so if we aren’t concerned with holiness, it is hard to conceive of our repentance as genuine.

Who Do You Say He Is?

July 7, 2025 by Tim Sherfy

When Jesus walked the earth as a man, almost all the people of His day had an opinion about who He was. Rumors swirled about a man who was becoming both more popular and controversial. Two sides formed, one believing He was from God and the other from the pits of Hell (John 7:12; Matthew 9:34). Within the two camps were many more divisions.

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King Herod believed Jesus was John the Baptist back from the dead. He fell into the camp of those who believed Jesus was a man of God, but stopped well short of believing Jesus was the Messiah. At least Herod had an answer when anyone asked about Jesus, “Who do you say He is?” But to his eternal damnation, his answer fell short.

He Is Able to Fill All Our Needs

July 3, 2025 by Tim Sherfy

The gospels of Matthew and Mark both record two separate instances of Jesus feeding multitudes of people. Some skeptics like to argue these were retellings of the same miracle, but the setting and details of each are so different that their argument is without merit and not worthy of further discussion. It is no surprise Jesus performed a similar miracle more than once, because He often repeated miracles such as restoring sight to the blind (Matthew 9:27-30; Mark 8:22-25),

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cleansing lepers (Luke 17:12-14; Matthew 8:2-3), healing the paralyzed (Matthew 9:1-7; John 5:5-9), and even raising the dead (Luke 7:11-15; John 11:43-44). We are confident in God’s Word (2 Timothy 3:16), and thus we can be confident that Jesus fed vast multitudes at least twice during His ministry. Then, as now, Jesus wants us to see that no matter how impossible the challenge, He is able to fill all our needs.